A user equipment (UE) may be configured to establish a connection to at least one of a plurality of different networks or types of networks to perform a variety of different functionalities via the connection. For example, the UE may connect to a first type of network (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) network) to communicate with another UE through the network connection (e.g., a user of the UE may perform a voice call or transmit a text to another user of another UE). In another example, the UE may connect to a higher order radio access technology (RAT) (e.g., LTE, 5G, etc.) or a lower order RAT (e.g., 2G, 3G, etc.). In a further example, based on a location, settings on the UE (e.g., roaming), or service availability, the UE may connect to different public land mobile networks (PLMNs) such as a home PLMN (HPLMN) or a visited PLMN (VPLMN).
When the UE is capable of utilizing both the HPLMN or the VPLMN, the UE may prioritize the HPLMN over the VPLMN. However, there may be situations when the UE is at an edge of the coverage area of the HPLMN such that the connection has a relatively low throughput and takes a relatively long time to load data. In this situation, the UE may perform additional operations using additional power because of the weak connection to the HPLMN. Being at the edge of the coverage area of the HPLMN may place the UE in a coverage area of the VPLMN that may provide a relatively strong connection as compared to the weak connection with the HPLMN. Nevertheless, since the HPLMN is prioritized, the UE may remain using the HPLMN despite the better connection with the VPLMN being available.
Furthermore, the UE may be in a position (e.g., in a garage of a building) where service from the HPLMN or VPLMNs with a roaming agreement with the HPLMN (hereinafter “roaming VPLMN) may not be available. However, this service disruption may be only for a limited amount of time. When the UE moves to another position that is nearby (e.g., outside the garage), the service from the HPLMN or roaming VPLMN may become available. However, when the HPLMN or roaming VPLMN service is unavailable, the UE switches to a limited service scanning procedure that scans for available service. Of the cells that are found during the limited service scanning procedure, only VPLMN cells with no roaming agreement with the HPLMN (hereinafter “non-roaming VPLMN”) are processed. That is, even if HPLMN cells or roaming VPLMN cells are found, the limited service scanning procedure ignores these results. Thus, after connecting to a non-roaming VPLMN cell, a subsequent procedure is used to scan for HPLMN or roaming VPLMN cells, results of which may coincide with the HPLMN or roaming VPLMN cell results from the limited service scanning procedure. Accordingly, the UE may utilize repetitive operations and additional power in establishing a connection to the HPLMN or the roaming VPLMN.